University of the Arts London E-Bulletin Template Editing Guidelines
Introduction The idea behind creating a universal template for our e-bulletins was to help to standardise the way in which external and internal audiences receive communications from the University. The template is also there to make the creation and editing of an e-bulletin easier for those with access to Microsoft Outlook as their main e-mail client. We have tested the layout, appearance and formatting of this template across many browsers and e-mail clients to ensure that it will be received as close to it’s intended format as possible. The template is in an OFT file format, which will open up directly in Microsoft Outlook ready to edit. Editing the template 1) Simply double click the icon to open the template in outlook. Once opened, you should see the template ready for editing in a similar layout to a typical standard e-mail. In fact, the template responds in a very similar way and will see that you can fill in your own recipients and subject as usual. The banner image is standardised, but we have a range of other alternative versions that can be used to suit your department/needs. Although, each ‘feature’ is editable, the basic concept behind the format is that you do not need change the colours, font types, font sizes or add anything else to the layout. You are simply replacing what exists, with your content. If the dotted grid lines that highlight the template’s editable regions do not appear by default when the template is opened, you should activate them to make editing easier. This is done by clicking anywhere in the main body of the e-mail and by selecting the ‘Layout’ menu. From here, you can select the option to ‘view grid lines’ from the left hand side of the options that appear. These grid lines are only visible when editing and after the e-mail is sent they should automatically disappear.
University of the Arts London E-Bulletin Template Editing Guidelines
Editing the template (cont’d) 2) Copy and pasting text into the template should be avoided is possible as the styles from the original document will be transferred across. If you need to paste text into the document, you can get around this problem by importing your text as normal and choosing the ‘match destination font’ option, which appears when you have pasted it into the template (see left). This will fix your content into the style of the original feature text.
3) To change a feature image, click once on the image so that it is selected and right click. An option to ‘change picture’ will appear. The images you have ready locally will ‘fit’ and adjust itself to the correct dimensions we have stipulated. You shouldn’t have to do any Photoshop editing, but for your information, the template uses JPG images at 96dpi (normal web dpi is 72) and the maximum edge size, whether landscape or portrait is 150px. When selected, your image will appear in place of the existing image.
In order to add alternative text (alt-text) to an image, right-click the image and then click ‘Size’. If you then select the ‘Alt Text’ tab, an ‘alternative text’ box will appear for you to enter your text. Be descriptive and concise. The text should be enough to interpret what the picture depicts. EG: ‘Image of exhibition work from a recent Chelsea show’. Adding alternative text to each of your images is a good idea as some e-mail systems strip images from an e-mail when it is received. 4) In order to add a URL to ‘more’ link on each feature, simply highlight the link and right-click for an ‘edit-hyperlink’ option. Here you can add the URL of your actual feature or website and change the wording of the link from ‘more’ to you choice. URLs can also be added into the body copy by highlighting text, right-clicking it and using the ‘interactive’ options from the menu.
University of the Arts London E-Bulletin Template Editing Guidelines
Editing the template (cont’d) 5) By default, the template uses 12 features (rows), which is pretty much the maximum that a an e-bulletin can effectively convey. Any more than this and there is a danger that the reader will be saturated with information and consequently find it hard to process. To delete any unnecessary features that you don’t need, simply highlight the rows by placing the cursor outside the table and dragging downwards over the redundant area. Then, right click on the area and select ‘delete rows’ or ‘cut’ from the menu.
6) There is also a small text area at the bottom of the template for your own personal sign-off or thank you note. You might also want to place contact details of your team/department here too. If your communication is being used on a large scale and you have an active database of many recipients it may be useful to consider using an on-line bulk e-mail sending system, that effectively manages e-mail lists, provides an unsubscribe facility and handles bouncebacks. Testing & Help The key to a good e-bulletin is to make it simple, clear and brief. You should be driving your readers to come to visit a page on your website or site that is connected to your feature. Research has shown that a couple of sentences is enough for an event or news article to work. Anymore than this is a waste of time- a reader’s inbox is a busy place. It is also worth stressing the importance of testing it extensively before the actual send-out occurs. Please feel free to test the template internally with your own department/colleagues first to ensure that you have included all the information necessary. If you have any questions or would like to ensure that the layout and formatting is correct, please contact websupport for advice at: websupport@arts.ac.uk